Thursday, December 5, 2013

All-Around Piety

   The definition of pietas on our page concerning the Roman virtues is:
"Dutifulness" More than religious piety; a respect for the natural order socially, politically, and religiously. Includes the ideas of patriotism and devotion to others. [emphasis mine]
This page with suggestions on places to donate in honor of various gods, offers some ideas for those who would like act with pietas on multiple levels.

Thanks to Drew Jacobs for providing this link on The Heroic Life.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

The Throne of Zeus

   This review was originally written with Demian's Gamebook Web Page in mind, but since they already have several reviews of the book, it seemed more effective to share my thoughts here instead.
   The Throne of Zeus is surprisingly effective at putting a great deal of mythological material in a small space. Most of the transitions between myths feel natural rather forced and you can see several play out nearly in their entirety. Glaring inaccuracies in the myths themselves are few, although some of the premises are more than a little suspicious. (There were physical thrones for each of the gods on Olympus? The gods have more interest in humanity on the summer solstice than during the rest of the year?) One disappointment was that the branches from one starting myth is much shorter than from the other.
   There are a few opportunities for the reader's character to become (semi-)divine which some may view as impious.